Today was simply unbelievable. It started at lunch time. We ran errands prior to lunch. We didn't go out to eat. Wow. We really are changing! We came home to make lunch. The kiddos asked for macaroni and cheese. I was going to have the leftover fajitas. My hubby surprised me by saying that he was going to try the fake chicken that I bought yesterday. WHAT?! I didn't think he would go near it! I got "Gardein brand seven grain crispy tenders". I heated up the fajita mix of onion, mushroom, and peppers and stuck it on a bun. We topped it with the baked "chicken", provolone cheese, spinach,and avocado. We stuck them under the broiler to melt the cheese. I can't believe we all liked the chicken. Seriously?! The kids asked me to buy it again.
We went to a birthday party this afternoon and I fell in love with one of the dips there. It was a lemon hummus served with fruit. I asked my friend for the recipe. She laughed and said she had made it up because she had leftover lemon cupcake mix. It was so delicious. I think I am going to have cupcake hummus each week!
My daughter had a friend from school over this evening. She asked if her friend could stay for dinner. Uh oh. A newly vegetarian cooking for a meat eater. This is going to be bad. I thought I could play it safe and make spaghetti with my home canned spaghetti sauce. Let's face it. I don't like to play it safe with food. I decided to make burgers. And by burgers, I mean a new recipe. Ugh. Why would I do that with company over? I was stressed thinking she was going to hate our food and go home and complain to her parents. Ha.
I started out by making the hummus. I threw two cups of great northern beans, one cup of yellow cupcake mix, and a little almond milk into the food processor. I kept adding milk until I got the right consistency. It didn't get as smooth as my friend's so I think I will try a different bean next time. The girls wolfed some down while I started on the burgers.
I found a recipe on Savvy Vegetarian for a Chickpea Black Bean Veggie Burger. I skipped a few of the ingredients and substituted some as well. Here is what I used. 2 cups of black beans, 2 cups of chickpeas, 1/2 cup of jasmine rice (because out of the five kinds of rice in my cupboard, I didn't have brown), 1/2 cup quick oats, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1/4 cup parsley (fresh), 1 clove garlic, 1/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika, 2 teaspoons basil, 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 1/2 can tomato paste, salt/pepper. Mash half of the beans and set aside. Take the grated carrot, finely chopped celery, and garlic and cook in oil until soft. Add the veggies to the whole beans, rice, and oats. In the frying pan, add the flour, cumin, and paprika. Cook for a few minutes to toast. Add the flour mix, liquid smoke, and soy sauce to the whole bean mixture. Process it in the food processor. Stir in the mashed beans and salt/pepper. Add the tomato paste to help bind. The recipe made 8 patties. Fry the patties in oil (I used olive oil) until brown on each side which is about 15 minutes total. We topped the burgers with your choice of cheddar or american cheese. We served them with lettuce, spinach, red onion, tomato, avocado, ketchup, and mustard with a side of home made pickles. I put out a platter of the cupcake dip and apples. Oh boy. Here is the test. Will my daughter's friend like dinner?? I could hardly keep my eyes off her as she ate. Ha. She completely cleaned her plate. I found out after she went home that she told my daughter it was the "best burger I ever had, even better than regular burgers". WHAT?! How awesome! Everyone liked the burgers and the cupcake dip. Today was unbelievable but definitely a win day!
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